15Â
August Issue
Teen Arts Council 20 20 mag.
July-August 2020
TABLE OF CONTENTS Poems The Idea of 2020 Playlist Wellness Our Picks Personal Re ections Conclusion
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Laugh
Untitled
Alexis W.
Kyla F.
How can you laugh at me without knowing my story? I am no one to judge, I can not afford grudge, When I'm not sure if I can make it anymore. There is no one near me but I hear a voice, The voice of a monster telling me to seek my revenge, On who? The outsiders, The outsiders who laughed and haunted me, As if my emotions don't come from within.
Do I like school? That's a rhetorical question Creating false sense is my ultimatum But school doesn't like me It doesn't care about me I wake up and it has the audacity to start early so I became an addict of being late Get to school around 3rd period I walk in them hallways and it smells like ass oceans of adolescents come here to receive lessons, but never learn to swim Or wash themselves I'm stuck here until 4:15 with fake eyelashes, messy, and with dudes that wanna front they move. Can't really do nothing about it because of this systematic institution. Don't get me started on Karen She cares so much of the image of the school thst she forgot about the image and well being of the students But favoritism is kind of a cheat code but I'm not an ass kisser.
Within these dark walls of misery, Is a bright light of purity. How can you laugh at me? I'm a danger woman and I shall not be mistaken for anything else, You've turned me into a madwoman who only seeks enjoyment in your misery. When you cry I laugh, I laugh and scream at the sound of your pity. You can no longer hurt me. Danger? I laugh in the face of danger. You know my story, You know my struggles. You've seen this part of my mind take over. Within these dark walls of misery, Is a full blown source of insanity. Care to laugh now?
Ghe o Witch Kyla Flowers Heavily influenced by my spellbook. Heavily influenced by the glittering atmosphere and roses. My words are used as weapons, it's my glock. I carry it with me everywhere I go and use it carefully because it may be deadly. I don't speak as much, I don't want to murder people. It's crazy how I use my weapon, it only frightens me when it gets to a point where I can't use it anymore.
Void Alexis W. Since March I've officially felt like I lost it all. My talent, my mind, my worth of living. I've been stuck in the same place for what feels like a century, But it's only been 4 months. My mind has been blank and busy at the same time. I can't feel nor can I express. I am trapped in my room, trapped in my head and there's nothing I can really do about it. My heart hurts day after day because I can't keep a stable feeling, I am being forced to sit in one spot for what feels like a century, But it's only been 4 months. I haven't wrote a single piece since, Can you tell? I'm off balance, No scale, no sign I just simply can't function in a room that feels like my personal cell. Oh, what have I done to myself? I've thought about ending my life again, When my head was screaming, Yelling, shouting, pounding, Itching to be heard, No one heard a thing... I heard the bleeding, I felt the bleeding. I felt needy, Needless to say, I was losing it, And I still am. I don't know who is to blame, none of this was my fault. I look at it as a chain reaction. One thing led to another, Like the domino effect from my mind to my heart to my body, The butterfly effect flew in, Took over my space, The galaxy was dark and there were no stars. There was no comet to be found. All I had was a body that was still, Like the wind and circulation stopped flowing in my surroundings.
Kareema G.
Exiled "Has Caesar been killed yet?" The woman asked. "It's been a while since he was killed." "Oh, is that right?" They were in a room that was disgustingly over-filled with all manners of human refuse. A variety of clocks, including a digital one that lay abandoned atop a pile of other things, a grandfather clock that was tolling, a broken cuckoo clock with the bird fallen some distance away, and a beeping alarm clock. A desk with a typewriter and a computer, both incredibly dusty. Food wrappers, candy, and salads included were littered throughout the apartment. Piles of newspapers from a variety of time periods were piled high next to the many towering bookshelves that crowded the walls. An assortment of dolls, the biggest one being at least 3 feet and the smallest one being an inch in size. There were a few specialty dolls with glass heads that were now broken, many ball-jointed dolls whose wooden moveable jaws creaked horribly with misuse, a few filthy soft toys that rested upon each other with their unseeing shining gazes, looking pathetic. The reverberations of the grandfather clock traveled through the room dully. The dolls were a result of Master’s sudden interest in doll-collecting a few hundred years ago. Bored out of her mind, Levitus’ Master had acquired a new hobby, doll collection. Master had built small dollhouses for her dolls, spent money to have fake parks and beaches created so her dolls could pretend to live, and bought a variety of clothes to change her dolls every day. The dolls had been abandoned after a mere thirty years of receiving painful interest from his Master. Unable to let go of the dolls, evidence of a previous hobby, she had been lugging it around with her. The doll collecting had been Master’s “new hobby” no.204057. Currently Master was on hobby no. 256738. The time between each hobby Master chose to pursue was becoming shorter and shorter. One of Master’s first hobbies was to farm, which Master did diligently for about 500 years in several different places before he (she preferred to be "he" about 8000 years ago) moved on to new ideas. “I am planning on going out to the river today and visit the washerwoman. Tell me what timeline I should be talking to them at.” “Master… there are no washerwomen at the river here anymore. The year is 2015.” “Oh. That’s right! Are there any ball invitations I can go to?” “No. Balls are not in style. Master, we are in the twenty-first century.” “What about the Peloponnesian War? Are they recruiting soldiers for that?” “Master, maybe it’s best if you simply slept today. You aren’t exactly in tune with the time.” “Well, the time here moves absurdly fast. It’s only been 7,000 years and there have been countless wars and changes. How am I supposed to keep up with it all?’ “Maybe review the codex for this year once more. Current events, political happenstances, popular celebrities, trendy fashion, and the slang of the year. It will help you out.” “You know what, get me a copy of Epic of Gilgamesh. “Master! That will only confuse you more.” Master pouted at him. “Just because my friend is dead doesn’t mean I can’t revisit him sometimes through an old text of literature, however inaccurate it may be.”
He sighed at his master. “Not today, master. Not today.” His master had days like this. After being confined in the human world for 7,000 years, which is too small and too fast for a creature of her stature, she tended to have days where she became confused at what time she was in and the behavioral rules appropriate for the time. It was only a little bit ago that it was okay to pretend to be superior to other races and suddenly that had changed, yet again. It was only a little bit ago when men used to frolic together without shame and it was only a little while ago when that was no longer okay and it was only a little bit ago that that seemed to be okay again. Humans are fickle creatures. For his master and himself as well, to change themselves constantly took a toll on their stable and comparatively stagnant personalities. His master was unmoving on the sofa, listlessly fiddling with the remote. Pulling and pressing at the rubbery buttons on it. The TV wasn’t on. More precisely, the TV had a large crack down its middle, perhaps an angry outburst from his master. He wasn’t entirely sure. “Hey, Levitus, what do you think the humans would say if they realized I had been exiled to their puny world because of illegal research for 10,000 years? It doesn’t even look like the planet will survive long enough for me to live out my exile.” It was a conversation they have had before but his reply always changed since humans always changed. “I am not sure. Can’t tell with some of these humans. I know you would have been burned at the stake or revered in your infinite wisdom depending on where you were.” “Levitus, why do you insist on calling me Master suddenly?’ “Humans use it every now and then for superiority, I thought it would be appropriate for our relationship.” “I don’t like it.” “What should I call you then, Master?” “By my name?” “But your name will interrupt the flow of normal human English.” “Just call me by my fake human name.” There was an awkward silence. “Which one was it again?” “Um… Helena? Oh no, that was a good 500 years ago. Sebastian? No, that was older. Um… Lori? Sylvia? Marie... which was never my name. Just get my id card, will you?” He hurriedly went to get the card. He was relieved that his Master seemed to have realized what the timeline was and had adjusted accordingly. “Athena! That’s what it was!” Master cackled heartily, “Human names, they are so terribly boring and easily forgotten.” “You chose the name of a goddess of war and wisdom, and you still think it's forgetful?” “Sure, why not? You forgot too, didn’t you? You sure do like to be hypocritical, Levitus.” Just then, there was a keening sound from the cell Levitus was carrying around. Spooked, he checked the phone to realize there were strings of luminous words pouring out of it which aligned in front of Athena’s eyes. “Levitus, look! This looks like the stuff we used to use at Sgirighryx to contact outside forces in separate planets. Have these bastards finally stopped pretending that they have forgotten about me?” Excited, Levitus crowded in next to Athena to look at the luminous script floating in the air. Though they had been stuck in the human world for the past 7,000 years, this was the first time they had received any sort of communication. Rhysk Ghrykzx this is a recall order, I repeat. this is a recall order. Earth is no longer a suitable place for exile. In a few days, precisely December 15 of 2019, you are to access the teleportation grounds through the key attached below. Due to the circumstances, you will be allowed to spend the next 3,000 years of your life in prison.
Levitus stared at the floating script as it started to dissipate. He couldn’t believe they were finally making it back there. Though they had yet to serve 3000 years of the sentence, it would be so much more forgiving if they were in the world they belonged to rather than the puny Earth they were in right now. The dingy apartment was a far cry from the research buildings they had in Sgirighryx. The very Earth and its inhabitants dried up any imagination a creature may have. Rhysk used to be a commander for the Research Corps but Rhysk’s fanatic habit of pursuing any research that interested her had gotten her into this exile. Illegal research using highly dangerous materials and forbidden techniques. However, there was no denial that Sgirighryx needed the commander of their Research Corps back. Levitus would sell his best hat to state that they were lacking in proper advancement because of the lack of Rhysk’s obsessive nature. And here he was, Levitus, Commander Rhysk’s right-hand man. Trusted and relied upon by Rhysk to take care of matters big and small. Also known as Rhysk’s catch-all; jack-of-all-trades, convenient servant. “You know what this means right Levitus?” “We are heading home. But it doesn’t make sense, why now? I thought the very reason the Sgrighs used Earth for exile was because of how lacking it is in just about everything. I mean they don’t even have a second sky. Just how unsuitable for exile can a place like this get?” Levitus saw a rictus grin widen on his master’s face. “Who cares why they want us back? I can finally complete that darned research of mine. In these 7000 years, I have done a lot of theoretical thought gymnastics and I think I have several sure-fire ways to finalize my research. I only need access to my materials.” “You don’t want another 10,000 years on a different planet. God forbid they find a planet even more lacking then this one.” “We just have to make sure not to get caught. Levitus I am going to rely on you to do all the work. You better come up with a better way to hide our research.” He had hoped that his master would give up on the research and pursue something else but he knew it was too much to hope for. But all Levitus did was grin in response. Earth was too remote for any contact with the Sgirighs, but when they were back on the planet itself, Levitus knew he could figure out a way to cut the sentence down early. They would most likely have to only spend 500 years out of 3000 before Rhysk was free to conduct her research. Enough people in Sgirighryx were willing to ignore Rhysk’s unorthodox means if they could benefit from her creations. And if Rhysk managed to finish the previous research successfully the whole matter of Rhysk’s unethical ways would be brushed under the rug entirely. Levitus couldn’t wait to head back and raise hell.
THE IDEA
F
2020
A Series of Essays by Antonio B.
Quarantined In Pro t
All the money in the world can buy a lot of things and create systems of support, but when struggles come into play in the markets and those who run them the snowball of disaster will keep rolling until it stops in a big mess. If you consider that more than 20 million people would be in gridlocked financial trouble, or the answer can be yes, if you consider the power of friends and family of everyone that makes happiness just a word. Quarantine is something that would rarely ever be said multiple times unless it was in a movie or something medical that could cause chaos, yet this year could be based on the idea that we really are living in a state of panic and there is no turning back when the cash stops flowing. During the beginning of this horrific “invisible act”, money was a constant flow like the many rivers of the states yet when the time came for droughts to occur, the cash was still there but very rare to get to. The damage to the fine system that lays the groundwork for these United States has never been tested since the Great Depression, but there was a blog post by AEI saying that, “By now, many are aware of those scary Wall Street economic forecasts for the second three months of the year. JPMorgan is
looking for an (annualized) 40 percent contraction in Q2, while Goldman Sachs forecasts a 34 percent shrinkage. And don’t forget those mind-melting forecasts also assume big drops in Q1, -10 percent for JPM and -7 percent for GS (again all annualized numbers).” The world can thrive when the people’s sweat and mentality of making money are coursing through the many industries veins, however, if the world doesn’t get that “blood” running through its systems there can only be one conclusion, and that would be decreasing numbers as said in the statistics above. We don't know what the future holds for anyone. One contributor at Forbes magazine for personal finance wrote in an article, “Investors need a way to price in risk, and as of April 2020, there are simply too many unknowns surrounding COVID-19 for investors to predict the economic impact, leading to fear and extreme volatility.” This article can tell you that with quarantine we won’t know if we can actually be safe and that goes for the economy as well, we won’t know if the market will rise to the top or drop to rock bottom. In Conclusion, this data of what the future holds and how it may topple the solid structure of this nation can only make people see that money can not save everything, so we must not take the value of life for granted.
The Race Wars War has many forms. From Moses and his “power” to the Afghan Wars that have been happening for almost 2 decades, but this year reveals the real war that, we the people, have fought since Christopher Columbus. These wars have been given the name The Race War, or, better named, The War of Races. Our great country was once run, in the words of explorers, by a group of people that act like “mysterious savages” and that was the beginning of bigotry in America’s history, yet the poison continued throughout the world with Europeans seeing the blacks as Moors, uncivilized people; the
Chinese would see westerners as “the enemy;" Spaniards would cherish the Mayans/Incas only for their gold and silver. POCs have long been the center point to how advanced our society would get with figures like MLK, Cesar Chavez, or Rosa Parks, but there are those in modern times who work around the same ideas of those mystique people like the young teens of BLM, mothers with a duty to protect all their “children”, and even the veterans that know nothing but war, however, still fight the peace they were made to create.
Influence has been the conclusion as to why people would do such heinous acts, whether it is TV or documents. To support that statement is an article written by WNYC Studios stating, “In a letter he wrote before assassinating President Abraham Lincoln, John Wilkes Booth claimed that ‘this country was formed for the white, not for the black man’ — a theme picked up by the KKK in its angry, murderous, and garbled calls for white power. Back in 1967, black militants like Jamil Abdullah Al Amin, formerly known as H. Rap Brown, also said that racial violence in the United States was unavoidable. ‘I say violence is necessary,’
Al Amin said decades ago. that violence is a part of America’s culture. It is as American as cherry pie. Americans taught black people to be violent. We will use that violence to rid ourselves of oppression if necessary.” Those influences that were thought to be the good needed to better America changed the work we see now. It will only get worse unless the influences of past and present have a better moral in mind. In conclusion, I just want the people to know that wars will never stop, the influences will still flow, and worlds will still collide. But, if we all take the chance to understand what it means to be similarly different kinds of human beings, you just might be happy.
woMAN - Gender, Sex, and Beginnings A whole bunch of atoms identifies as a molecule, a whole bunch of food identifies as a feast, a whole bunch of humans identifies as a society/community, but what about an individual? Every day there are new things that people experience and try to understand. Yet, when it comes to how they can understand other people without harsh comments, it is a bit more difficult to do than some think. History has shown us that there are some views we need to know that will never change like women wear dresses and men like to smoke and golf. But the real question is about those small groups of people that withdrew from those "social norms" by trying what is a norm for the opposite person like men wearing tights and women fixing cars. People just can't handle what it would mean to follow norms of the opposite sex with supposedly, men liking beer and guns, while women like wine and drama. The real struggle is never actually getting the chance to experience a unique world, which may contradict our values, but allows us to explore what makes us curious. A Canadian college named BCcampus wrote an editioned series introducing us into sociology
which stated, "If you are a man, imagine that you were forced to wear frilly dresses, dainty shoes, and makeup to special occasions, and you were expected to enjoy romantic comedies and glamour reality shows. If you are a woman, imagine that you were forced to wear shapeless clothing, put only minimal effort into your personal appearance, not show emotion, and watch countless hours of sporting events and sports-related commentary. It would be pretty uncomfortable, right? Well, maybe not. Many people enjoy participating in activities that are typically associated with the opposite sex and would not mind if some of the cultural expectations for men and women were loosened.� This idea of a real-life Freaky Friday can make us wonder and see that sometimes when we get bored, it only takes a few new chances to be yourself. You can be a whole new person, but more importantly, be identified as a human with some quirky attributes. In conclusion, the world is not always ready to face all the problems that are made within so if the world doesn’t accept different people, those people will rise up and try what feels right to them, as if they were born to do it.
Our Space, Our Exploration
We, as a civilization, think that the limits of our curiosity are as high as the sky. Area 51, New Mexico, and Apollo's Mission all sought to figure out what the universe is hiding from us. The universe is big and weird, but knowing that loneliness never worked for the hum. Scientists during this hard time are not only investing their time in finding a cure that would fix humanity, but there are scientists of the new Space Force that want to advance civilization by searching for a "New Earth". Recent news from a NASA article says, "The Perseverance rover's astrobiology mission is to seek out signs of the past microscopic life on Mars, explore the diverse geology of its landing site, Jezero Crater, and demonstrate key technologies that will help us prepare for future robotic and human exploration. Jezero Crater is the perfect place to search for signs of ancient life," said Thomas Zurbuchen, Associate Administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate at the agency's headquarters in Washington. "Perseverance is going to
make discoveries that cause us to rethink our questions about what Mars was like and how we understand it today. As our instruments investigate rocks along an ancient lake bottom and select samples to return to Earth, we may very well be reaching back in time to get the information scientists need to say that life has existed elsewhere in the universe." This great idea of hope creates a vision that 2020 was never able to give to us and if we all have the same mindset that those at NASA, SpaceX, or even the little boy that dreams of becoming an astronaut, we could make this year better beyond the sky and into the stars at an astronomical rate. In conclusion, exploration has always been a pillar to how we humans want to live and without knowing what could be there for us and what might be coming for us, we will never understand the universe until one day we discover what space has to offer.
Mentally Open Discussion of our Minds The strongest organ that many people think they have would probably be the heart because of the amount of work that it does, but what about our brain? We do more things to get things done with our brain such as think, invent, or even have emotions. So if we want to live the life that was given to us, we must make sure that the most unique organ to be understood, we must understand it first. Humans started just like infants, where the brain is still developing, and that part of evolution tells us that people were not bright yet we soon evolved to adapt to the surrounding world that was growing around us. An article written by Lisa Feldman Barrett, a lady with the National Library of Medicine, talks about putting a connection between mind and brain in which she writes, “Psychologists attempt bridge the social and natural worlds using the conceptual tools of their time. Throughout our history, the link between the social (mind and behavior) and the natural (brain) has felt less like a solid footbridge and more like a tightrope requiring lightness of foot and a really strong safety net. Mind–brain, and relatedly, behavior–brain, correspondence continue to be central issues in psychology, and they remain the largest challenge in 21st century psychology.”
This historical connection that she makes of how the human brain adapted throughout history brings forward the idea that we as humans want to interpret every single thing that we sense, but how we interact vs. our response to those interactions continues to be a problem that many people face which call forward mental illness.Mental illness has many forms that linger with many different social or emotional interactions from Phobias, Autism, Schizophrenia, or Parkinson’s but the one thing that connects all of these, which connects all of us, is that these illnesses mess with our brain thus forth messing up our mind/body. An article written by Michael Marshall with the website Nature.com talks about how all illnesses have a similar link between them in which he writes, “One prominent model is that there are a number of neuropsychological traits or ‘dimensions’ that vary in every person. Each trait determines our susceptibility to certain kinds of disorder. For example, someone might be prone to mood disorders such as anxiety, but not to thought disorders such as schizophrenia.” This fact that all people have similar traits to get disorders can support the idea that people may have a random chance to get a disorder but we all get the same consequence of having affected brains which causes affected mind/body. In conclusion, Quarantine has been said to affect our mental health by making us feel like we need to be isolated forever which can have long-term effects, but this mini essay is just a small talk about our brains/minds because our brain is the most unique organ to the human kind and in a final note makes our minds be more brighter, even if we trapped in our own sorrows.
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or professions. E: Exploit personal passions. F: Fight for emotional, mental, physical, and financial stability. G: Gain that mindset that you're always moving forward although you may be standing still. H: Happiness. Health. Healing. I: Individuality is uniquely personal and beautiful. J: Justify responsible actions and truthful communication. K: Kinda too early and too late, which is why you have time. L: Love yourself first because that's who you will be spending the rest of your life with. M: Minimum effort for maximized outcomes. N: No explanation is a valid response. O: Open your soul to opportunity, love, and comfort. P: Progression requires effort. Q: Question your part in situations. Reflect on self-accountability. R: Reclaim or claim your space. S: Surrounding things non-tangible and tangible should be intentionally paced for happiness. T: There's always existing positivity. U: Unhealthiness can be combated with sublimation. V: View and value different perspectives. W: What you say no to defines you. X: Xray self-destructive thoughts. Find function when dysfunction is present. Y: You're exhausted because you're carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders, and most of it isn't even yours to carry. Z: Zero reward should be expected for kindness.
A: A life you enjoy living is one worth creating. B: Be water. C: Change is possible. D: Define others and yourself by passions, purposes, messages, and missions, not by looks, wealth,
A F F I R M A T I O N S
Our Picks
What we've been watching, reading, and listening to during quarantine
By Serena W., Zahi R., and Kareema G.
TV A Must-See Trilogy I Am Not Okay With This Drama. The main character has a superpower of sorts. The identity crisis with sexuality is nice to see recognized, as well as the unnoticed/underdog persona of the main character.
Never Have I Ever Just a relatable teen show. Shows inclusiveness through diverse characters with your typical, borderline predictable con icts and resolutions. To not feel alone is needed, and the themes of an okay family, with self versus self-con ict and con ict with pain and losing loved ones all too well resonates with humanity.
Prodigal Son This 20 episode series has a variety of elements that ow together WELL. It’s psychological, comedic, and thrilling with a crimesolving base. The characters are charming and their dynamics are something to admire.
Extra Suggestions: • Brewstew ims contains these animated hilarious narratives of personal experiences. The simplistic narrations are brought to life with the creators’ word choice. • Ted talks! In particular this one: “Inside the mind of a master procrastinator" by Tim Urban.
Scan code to browse videos by brewstew lms
Scan to watch "Inside the mind of a master procrastinator"
One Piece One Piece follows the story of Monkey D Lu y, a boy who dreams of becoming the Pirate King. He is the captain of the Straw-Hat Pirates, which consists of ten members. This story is truly bizarre and utterly megalithic. It has a ridiculous amount of characters, islands with individual governing bodies and di erent geography and unique characteristics, opponents with interestingly unique abilities, etc. I adore the characters and the relationships depicted in this. There is a certain simplicity to the ghts and the act of following the rowdy adventures of the characters. This anime won’t be for everyone and has to be watched over a long period of time. Entirely unsuitable for binging.
Carole and Tuesday
Its an anime about the growing discrimination of a galaxy separated into humans migrated to mars and those from a dying earth, with martians becoming environmentally better o . The story covers Carole, a black pianist and immigrant from earth and Tuesday, a white guitar player and rich daughter of a politician. They use music to express the company they cherish in each other, their loved ones, and the harmful preventing of coming together through restrictions on immigration to mars. The interracial dynamic of both protagonists is only one of the multiple representations of diversity in the show, which is as impressive as the music composers ranging from Flying Lotus and Thunder Cat to Maddison Mcferrin and Benny Sings. It's an amazing show with a varied feature of musicians from around the world that I would highly recommend.
Naruto The rst time I watched this, I skipped through the episodes, took the lazy way out. By rewatching, I further understand how things came to be as they were. Must admit that the character development, power-ups, plot, and backstory is much more intriguing and well-written compared to Bleach. And again, I have re-found my love for the characters, Gaara, Shikamaru, and Orochimaru (who is weirdly funny.)
GAMES Animal Crossing: New Horizons This game places you on your own island, allowing you to gradually shape and craft it as you please and even allows others to come to visit. Not often do you come across a game that everyone can enjoy for hours on end. With the guidance of fun-sized animal characters like Tom Nook and Isabelle, you can evolve your living environment from a tent in the wilderness to a house in an isolated paradise. You can welcome and interact with over 100 di erent animal villagers as you share the island life with them and can even invite other people who own the game to come and visit. The games release date arrived at the beginning of the lockdown, giving people a new and alternative way of interacting with each other. If you lack imagination, you de nitely won’t enjoy the game. However, there's a minimal learning curve for those unfamiliar with video games, making it literally E for everyone.
BOOKS
The Last of Us In a post-apocalyptic time, a “fatherdaughter duo ght to survive. With admirable visual cinematics, unique gaming toggles, and a compelling storyline to get emotionally attached to, this is a must-watch (not to mention plot twists and overlapping stories.)
C by Robert Jackson Bennett This series provides a deeply human outlook into war, politics, and human relations. This is a three book series that spans over the time of seventeen years and each book follows a separate character. I recently read the last book and closed the book with my heart empty and my brain reeling. I will unashamedly state that I cried and spent some time starting at the ceiling, re-thinking life. The fantastic elements of this story are unique and welldeveloped. The characters are unexpected. There are not many books that will follow a 30-year old woman who’s a Chief Diplomat and trained in espionage. A forty-year old woman who is a veteran, and a man in his forties who used to be a prince of a fallen kingdom and is working odd jobs when we start following him. This story is intricate and well woven. I have cried at the end of all three books. That’s really saying something, I don’t cry often. I didn’t cry because it was particularly sad, I cried because it felt like I had suddenly understood what I hadn’t before.
The Final Descent (The Monstrumologist #4) by Rick Yancey Another last in a series, the fourth book in the Monstrumologist series. This book was… phenomenal. It felt like this book grew out of its own series; the character tropes, the plot progressions, and the message of it all. The rst book felt like the series was going to be formulaic, that each book was going to follow a singular monster that appeared in the beginning of the book and was defeated by the end of the book. But each book subtly changed to become a drawn out piece of character study and the characters in this story are fascinating. What irks me is that this book is criminally underrated.
MUSIC Triple Threat of My Love Language Victoria Monet - “Ass Like That” Features components of self-infatuation, empowerment, and con dence. This song is a mood booster and uplifting. Self-love is crucial for individuals to process, thus, this song is the perfect track to listen to.
Big Sean - “Single Again” Has a lyrical representing how everyone should react to familiar situations di erently in order to expand and improve one’s current state of being.
Snoh Aalegra - “Njoy” “Njoy” is composed around the idea of letting go of people, habits, thought processes, and everything that doesn’t serve you a sanguine purpose, plus Snoh’s lyrics ow well with the instrumental. Sweet and simple.
Extra suggestion: Watching tiny desk concerts on Youtube.
Personal Personal Reflections Re ections Kareema G. When school shut down because of Quarantine, I was ecstatic. At the time I needed a real break from school. I was tired of half of the subjects and weighed down by the rest. But after the rst week, I was a panicked mess. I had no motivation or energy to do anything school related. The school had announced that nothing would count against our grade so I had no reason to try, but I still panicked about it. How much could I not do and get away with? How much did I have to do? And at what point would I have to start playing the catch up game? I also despised online classes and didn’t know how to be in one. It was like learning how to be in a class and balance the weirdness of that all over again. Su ce it to say, the ending of the school year was nightmarish.
Insight into the lives of teenagers in quarantine
Since I had to spend so much time at home, I started becoming agitated. I had a whole bunch of energy that wasn’t being spent. So I started trying to do more physical activities and really delve into hobbies I had set aside for school, fan ctions, anime, manga, webtoons, k-drama, journaling, and reading (buying books). I have also slowly come to realize the new reality of remote learning and I am becoming more at ease with the process of showing up in classes online and interacting in that way. I have higher motivation and I have somewhat fallen into the rhythm of the new normal.
Lily Woo Quarantine made home feel like such a tiring environment. At rst, I thought that staying home all day, every day, was an amazing idea, but cabin fever set in way more quickly than I anticipated. I would wake up for online classes and my energy would all be drained before the day even started. Everything started blending together and nothing seemed worth doing anymore. I felt guilty if I didn’t feel like doing work, but it was still hard to bring myself to be productive, especially as AP tests came around in May. I never thought I would ever miss going to school, but that’s what ended up happening. As summer approached my mood improved and my motivation resurfaced so I could nish the school year strong. The summertime has felt very freeing. I feel so much happier. Now it seems I have enough time in the day to do everything I want to do, which is strange considering my schedule has changed very little, aside from school ending. There is underlying stress that comes with not knowing how things are going to turn out, but I’m still trying to remain hopeful for the coming months. I’ve spent my time doing puzzles, staying active with my swim team, and reading, among other hobbies. I even have some mini cacti that I’ve been taking care of. Watching my favorite TV shows has also been something I've been doing a lot of in particular, The Umbrella Academy and Avatar: the Last Airbender (both I would highly recommend!).
Zanaida M. COVID and quarantine, two things that have changed billions of people's lives… mine included. Back in March, I truly believed this whole COVID thing was going to soon blow over, 4 almost 5 months later here I am, still quarantined, still living through a pandemic. It truly is an insane feeling, knowing that we’ll go down in history, but how long will this actually go on for? When will we be able to go back to normal? Will there ever be a normal again? All questions that are still very present, and always nagging in the back of my head, in the back of most of our heads. Although this pandemic has evoked plenty of negative and worrisome emotions, there’s still light in all the bad: yin-yang people. Many of us have found ourselves, and have found the type of person that we want to be. I know I have. As the months being stuck at home passed and passed, I slowly began to realize who I am, my true likes and dislikes, my own personality, and found new hobbies. I began painting, reading, and exercising more. I started yoga and I created a closer bond with my siblings. I began to do di erent things with my makeup, my hair, styling it better, feeling con dent. COVID is something that will forever be present, linger around, it won’t ever fully be gone (maybe years from now, who knows). One thing I do know, though, is that even under some extreme circumstances, I’m glad I was given the time to explore new things and start the path of living life the way I want, the way I want to be, the person I want to become. These times are very hectic, nobody can say they’re not, but in a way, many things became clear to me about what I want. Thanks, quarantine (I hate you COVID) but thanks.
Serena W. Being quarantined taught everyone how to not be comfortable and how to adapt. That it’s important to be inclusive, considerate, and open to the perspectives of others. That alternate plans should be explored and evaluated for lasting nancial and emotional stability but it’s also surfaced this idea that we could’ve made resources accessible to larger demographics. Being quarantined taught me the importance of hyper-awareness. To recognize what’s signi cantly important to me, and to focus on my well being as an individual and highlight the need for selfsustainability, productiveness, and a healthy lifestyle. Transitioning to a schedule-oriented adult hasn’t been the easiest but opportunities and new experiences that adulting brings make the process worthwhile.
A piece of advice: Only you know where you want to be and no one will open those doors to reach your destination because you only have your destination in mind. You only have the key to your door. Beyond the door, in the interior of your house, is comfort and your ideal life, with “homey” elements. It’s where your desires, aspirations with things you haven’t obtained yet dwell but also overall objects and intangible ambitions you earned. It’s where you want to be. Sometimes you can open your own doors with a working key, but if there’s a mishap by chance you have to get creative to reach that resting place of happiness, you have to take a window of opportunity. In your home lies your haven deeper than interior design. At the end of the day only you have your safe haven and best interests in mind that you want to unwind in after a tiring or dull day. Free will and fate combine to create your life outcomes. Decision making is personal. Walk through your front door threshold with the open-mindedness of compromising. Take opportunities no matter their risks and give some e ort. Try trial and error with thoughtfulness. You’re the only one that really wants to get inside your house.
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